54 miles
Due to a combination of lack of access to cell phone signal or power, a bit of burnout on maintaining this blog and just being busy with my ride I did not post much on days 59 to 65, except a few small things on the last two days. Now on 8/14 I am finally going to sit down and fill in some of the blanks. Some of the posts will be a bit short since I have forgotten some of the minor details of these days and since my picture taking dropped of dramatically toward the end. The last days in Virginia, especially after the Blue Ridge mountains, were in more populated areas and were just not as visually exciting.
Roberto, Vreny and I all took off within a minute or two of each other. The rest of the group we camped with headed back onto the Appalachian Trail or toward the west. The first 20 or so miles of the day were on rural roads with light traffic and some nice scenery. After a stop at a convenience store Roberto and I passed each other a couple of times before settling into a pace and riding together for about 5 miles. Since I speak no Italian and he spoke almost no English there was not much conversation and he ended up taking off ahead of me at some point. Vreny, who has several times claimed to be slow, left both of us far behind.
Morning fog just outside Troutville:
Approaching a home somewhere near Buchanan:
Midway through the day I reached Lexington. On the outskirts I made the mistake of getting brunch at the first restaurant I saw based on the faulty assumption that there would probably not be anything better further into town. The place had me feeling young since I was the only person under 70 or so in it. The interior was an interesting mix of decor from the 40s through the 60s. Downtown Lexington, a couple miles further on, turned out to be very busy and full of many restaurants that had me regretting the early stop.
Leaving Lexington I had to spend about a mile on a road that was essentially a freeway. It wasn't until 5 to 10 miles past town that the traffic died down and I found myself back in the boonies. By that point it was very hot and humid and I was glad it was going to be a short day. About 4 miles before the campground I stopped for some food and ice cream at a convenience store to cool off for a bit before setting a very leisurely pace for the last few miles. Almost immediately after getting there I spent about 10 minutes soaking in the creek before starting to settle in.
Roberto and Vreny showed up about an hour later. They had both decided to spend some extra time in Lexington and I had apparently rolled past them somewhere in town. We spent the rest of the afternoon just relaxing in the campground, sharing a couple beers and taking care of the usual chores: washing clothes, planning the next day and completing some bike repairs.
Roberto had a broken spoke and I was surprised to find that the spares I was carrying happened to fit. Despite not being able to communicate verbally we tag teamed the repair since he did not seem to have experience with it. Normally I don't like touching someone else's bike since I would feel really bad if I made things worse but I also ended up truing up the wheel afterward. Even though I was initially reluctant to take it on it felt good to pass on some of the help and generosity I have encountered along the way.
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